Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki, left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring on a double by Nolan Arenado during the fourth inning of their baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)— AP

Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki, left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring on a double by Nolan Arenado during the fourth inning of their baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Colorado Rockies second baseman Jonathan Herrera fields on a ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez during the eighth inning of their baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. Gonzalez was thrown out at first on the play. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)— AP

Tommy Lasorda and his wife Jo laugh as they watch a video tribute to Tommy prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers' baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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LOS ANGELES 
Michael Cuddyer is closing in on his first batting title.

And he didn't even need to play on Saturday night to help get there.

Cuddyer spent the game on the bench with his .333 average and the Rockies beat Zack Greinke and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0.

Atlanta's Chris Johnson went 0 for 4 against Philadelphia and slipped to .321 - effectively locking up Cuddyer's first batting title in 13 big league seasons with one game remaining.

"It means a lot," said Cuddyer, who was a teammate of two-time AL batting champion Joe Mauer in Minnesota.

"It takes a lot of hard work, sticking to routines and things of that nature - and a lot of luck along the way, too. I'm not too proud to admit that to do something like that, you've got to get lucky.

"I went into the season a career .271 hitter. So to be in a position like this, I never would have thunk it," Cuddyer added. "I never thought that when the season ends, I'd be on top. I've never been in that position before, so I was never assuming that I was going to be there.

"Obviously when you get into September and you're in contention, you keep plugging away for it. And fortunately, I've had a good September. But I never tried to get ahead of myself."

The 34-year-old right fielder is the sixth player in Rockies history to win a batting crown, joining Andres Galarraga, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Carlos Gonzalez and three-time winner Larry Walker.

Cuddyer is hitting .313 outside of Denver, so he's not just benefiting from playing half of his games at Coors Field.

"To lead the league in hitting you have to hit well at home and on the road - unless you hit like .400 at home," he said. "I've been in this organization only two years, so I've never really taken that home-road thing to heart, as far as Coors Field is concerned."

Juan Nicasio outdueled Zack Greinke for his first victory in six starts and Nolan Arenado had an RBI double for the Rockies.

Nicasio (9-9) allowed three hits over 5 1-3 innings and struck out seven while winning for the first time since Aug. 26 against San Francisco. The last time the 27-year-old right-hander faced the Dodgers on July 12 in Los Angeles, he outpitched Clayton Kershaw with seven scoreless innings for the victory.

"That's the thing about Juan. He can step up and have a performance like that," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He was trying to find consistency after being out for much of the time over the last two years. We've seen that from him earlier this year when he matched up with Kershaw and threw much like that."

Adam Octavio followed Josh Outman out of the bullpen in the sixth, retiring Juan Uribe on a foul pop and Scott Van Slyke on a fly ball with the bases loaded. Rex Brothers, the sixth Rockies pitcher, got four outs for his 18th save in 20 chances.